Last night I received a comment stating, “I already donated to the first campaign. Still not sure why I need to donate again?” This is a fair question that I’m sure many of you have, so I will use my answer as today’s update.

Before I start with my answer, I want to thank each of you for your donations. Each of you made it possible for us to conduct 55 interviews, capture some great b-roll and do the research that will make Assaulted a meaningful documentary and one that we hope will change minds and sway opinions when it comes to the 2nd Amendment.

..best laid plans of mice and men.

Last fall when we held the first Kickstarter, gun control and assault weapons were mostly the subjects left for the court of appeals. California gun owners with the help of CalGuns Foundation, SAF and other state gun associations successfully stopped SB249, a bill that would have made Bullet Button equipped AR-15s and AK-47s illegal in the golden state. It was a cautious victory but one, combined with court successes across the country, seemed to show positive progress on the ability to exercise our 2nd Amendment right. We therefore had an open completion date on the project.

Then all hell broke loose.

Obama was reelected and suddenly the UN Small Arms Treaty was back on the negotiating table and the possibilities of end runs around the 2nd Amendment. This bad news was followed by the horrific news of Newtown and the snowball of executive and legislative action that now has gun owners facing 31 gun control bills in congress and many more across the 50 states.

Taking the argument out of the courtroom and into the theaters.

All of this has put an incredible amount of pressure on us to get this film completed and into theaters. We need to triple the size of the post team to finish the film in early March. Combine these challenges with the fact that our efforts to secure an underwriter to cover the finishing costs have been unsuccessful, forced us to return to Kickstarter because we no longer have the luxury of time. The gun control debate is now front-and-center in American media and the need to complete our film has grown exponentially.

Thank you, again.

We’re here asking for your help again, whether it’s a donation or encouraging your friends to join us. If you feel that you have given enough to our project, know that you have helped us immensely with your funding and we appreciate it. If the current ammo shortage has left you with a few extra dollars in your pocket, consider donating it to the film. You may not be able to blow holes into a target this weekend, but you will be helping us blow holes in the arguments that are being used to restrict your 2nd Amendment rights.

How are we doing compared to our first Kickstarter campaign? Eight days out on the first round we were at $26.5K at the end of the day and we are at $24.6K with 12-hours to go today. Just because we’re tracking on the same curve (see the chart below) doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed to hit our goal. We still have a long way to go.

How are we going to get there? We’ve just past 33%, so the easiest way, is for each of us to get two friends to match our donation, or double our donation and get a friend to match our original pledge – double and match!

This Sunday set your alarms to listen to me on Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk Radio at 3:05 PM EST / 12:05 PM PST. I’ll be talking about the film, 2nd Amendment and this campaign. You can stream it live from this link http://www.guntalk.com/site38.php .

Finally, I want to thank all the first time backers that have joined us. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Today, Tom Gresham on “Gun Talk Radio” out of Louisiana interviewed me regarding the film. This was quite an honor as Tom’s show is the most syndicated radio program dealing with firearms and hunting sports in America.

This interview came about because of the help of Gordon Hutchinson whom I met in Baton Rogue last December. Gordon is the author of “ The Great New Orleans Gun Grab” and showed us around Nola and introduced us to many of the victims of Katrina and the resulting gun grab by NOPD and regional/national law enforcement - real interesting interviews that will be part of the film.

After we departed New Orleans, Gordon reached out to Tom and told him about our film, so when I contacted to Tom on Thursday asking if he had time in his show to talk about Assaulted, he immediately responded with a “yes”. I know Tom’s positive reaction was due in part to Gordon’s actions. Thank you, Gordon.

Just like in target shooting, breath control is critical when conducting a Kickstarter campaign. Shallow breathing or holding your breath in anticipation is not a good idea, especially when there is five more days until the end of the campaign. So, I’m taking a deep cleansing breath and diving into this update.

Here is the good news; we’re still trending ahead of our first campaign curve with fewer donors, but today is one of the most critical in the campaign. Today, we need to raise $3,000 to stay on track – our daily average has been $1,525. The ultimate target for the day is to reach 50% of our goal at $35,000. That means doubling our efforts to get our friends to join us and/or doubling pledges.

For those just joining our effort, we were at 40% of our goal five days out on our first campaign, so we have faith that we can repeat that successful performance with everyone’s help; especially since last month, when our 2nd Amendment rights came under an unprecedented attack at the states and federal levels. With your help we can create a film that can change attitudes and turn the tide in this current crisis.

Past donors from the first campaign, please consider matching your original pledge. You had faith in our effort before the 2nd Amendment became a piñata at Feinstein’s reelection party – I hope you still do.

“Double and match” are the final words I will type today. Well, actually “today” was the final word. No, “word” was...breathe, boy, breathe.

Tonight is the State of the Union Address and we will hear the arguments for limiting 2nd Amendment rights in the name of public safety. We will hear statements that the conservative wing of our government must do the right thing and pass comprehensive gun control legislation. As Gene Hoffman of the CalGuns Foundation said at the close of the trailer, “It’s not about being a republican. It’s not about being a democrat. It’s about respecting the Bill of Rights.”

Help us finish this film to teach that the 2nd Amendment is a civil right and must be respected as such.

To do that, we must work together to see this campaign funded. We’re just under 50% of our goal, which means we have the ability to make our goal by applying the following simple steps:

1) Donate if you haven’t.
2) Double your donation if you already made one or
3) Have a friend match your donation.
4) Share this project link http://kck.st/VZmXBM on Twitter and on your Facebook today and everyday until Saturday night.

Gun laws from the beginning of the United States of America have always favored the wealthy white man. The first laws written barred Native Americans and Blacks (freed or enslaved) from possessing firearms and continued through the Jim Crow era.

World War II saw gun confiscations precede forced interment of Japanese-American citizens just because the fear of war empowered the white man to do so. The fact that no German-Americans or Italian-Americans had their firearms taken supports that gun laws have been written for the white majority.

The California Gun Control Act of 1968 has been said to be a knee-jerk reaction to the Black Panther’s use of loaded rifles in peaceful protest to bring attention to white bigotry in the Oakland police department and abuses by its white police officers against black citizens. Even today, the majority of Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) permits issued in California are given to white males.

This racial trend in gun control has also jumped the color barrier to only favor the rich who can financially afford their 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and secure self-defense CCW permits through political campaign donations while the single mother in the inner city can’t legally acquire an affordable gun to protect her family.

I appreciate what you are trying to do for the 2nd amendment, but I don't see where race has anything to do with it at this time in our society, but I wish you all the best on the film.

__________________
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”

Palmetto, it is relevant because the regions in the country that have the greatest need for self-defense, usually have at least two things in common, high minority populations and the complete denial of second amendment rights to those who most need to exercise the right.

In other words, gun control has racism for its early roots, and it's still racist, in effect. Those in power will never admit this, but they don't really believe that anyone, but especially poor African Americans can really be trusted with the right. And, interestingly, this prevailing attitude comes far more from the left than the right.

Hopefully the film will help shine the light of day on this dirty little truth.

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